Cuomo: Senate gun bill ‘only better than nothing’

ALBANY — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted a compromise that will move a gun control bill through the U.S. Senate, saying Congress will “fundamentally fail to act on a societal scourge” by expanding background checks without reinstating an expired ban on semi-automatic “assault weapons.”

(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“This is a Congress that is captive of the extremists, and there is no clearer proof than this,” said Cuomo, a Democrat. “They’re talking about a bill that might improve the background checks, which is better than nothing, but it’s only better than nothing.”

Wednesday morning, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, announced an agreement to extend background checks to firearms sold at gun shows and by Internet retailers. Private sales between individuals would still not require a background check.

The Democrat-controlled Senate will vote to start debate on gun control Thursday. The Washington Post reports that senators are expected to reject proposals from Barack Obama to limit high capacity magazines and restrict some types of semi-automatic, military assault rifles. A ban on such firearms — including the AK-47 — expired in 2004.

Cuomo said a gun control bill he pushed, dubbed the SAFE Act, goes much further.

“Our gun package goes well beyond what they’re talking about in Washington. … We’re not talking about a significant package anymore. We lost that along the way,” Cuomo said during a radio interview. “I think it points out the intelligence of what we did in New York State, and thank God we did.”

New York’s SAFE Act broadened the definition of banned assault weapons, banned the sale or possession of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and places a seven round cap on the amount of bullets they can lawfully contain. The law also increased penalties for illegal gun possession, reduced public access to gun permit information, and required mental health professionals to report concerns about a gun-owning patient who poses a risk to himself or others.

New York’s bill was unveiled on Jan. 14, and passed quickly through a “message of necessity” that waived the legally required three-day waiting period. The New York State Senate, led by a Republican-dominated coalition, passed the measure by a 43-18 vote less than two hours after the bill’s text became public. The Democrat-dominated Assembly passed the bill the next day, and Cuomo signed it. He has since faced criticism and legal challenges to the bill, and his poll standing notched down.

During his first two years as governor, Cuomo would often decline to comment on federal proposals. But during the Wednesday morning radio interview, conducted by WCNY’s “The Capitol Pressroom,” the governor spent 10 minutes on the subject.

Cuomo was careful not to criticize Barack Obama, but contrasted his own efforts in New York — passing bills through a split Legislature where Republicans effectively control one house — with what he described as “paralysis”in Washington.